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Isk 7 - Mystic, Poet, Pleasurer
'' ‘If Oswald hadn’t tried to teach the little freak poetry for a lark, I wouldn’t be what I am now.’'' One more time - it's they/them, or mayhem. Your choice. Background Isk 7 is a freedman who makes their living selling 'articulations of thoughts, dreams, and desires' for either favours or monetary profit. Isk's past includes a period of time spent as a slave in Oswald's human trading exploits, being auctioned off as a highly-sought after courtesan in underground Valerian brothels open to only the most influential, gaining their freedom through alleged deception, seduction and witchcraft, as well as professing to have learnt the dark arts whilst being held captive in the innermost recesses of the city. Isk is an excellent poet and scribe who was taught literary arts by Oswald himself, who, it is believed, either undertook the task as a kindness to Isk or to further inflate Isk's market value. Isk is shunned by most magicfolk and Alcestian society, as they are believed to bring bad luck due to their marred past as a slave and sex worker, as well as their propensity for dark magic. However, as they are familiar with the desert in which the Ruins have surfaced, and possess valuable arcane knowledge, they were permitted to join the Mundus Oculus Sect. Isk 7's name comes from the label on the inside of a carton that Isk was smuggled in over three months by ship that read 'ISK - 7'. It is not known what the carton was originally used to transport, but Isk reports that it smelled strongly of shellfish, and to this day cannot stomach molluscs. 'Isk 7' was the only thing Isk could articulate for months afterwards, which gave rise to their name. Personality Isk states that they originate from 'a little spit of land on the edge of the Miral Desert' and claims to not remember the exact geographical location of their hometown. They were taken from their home in a slave raid by mercenaries on the cusp of puberty, and has undergone significant mental and physical trauma. However, as Isk was prized for their 'long throat and clear eyes', the slavers always made sure to injure Isk where potential buyers would not mind. Due to the psychological ramifications of the abuse, Isk sees physical touch only as transaction, and cannot conceive of forming meaningful human relationships. They wield dark magic as a means of hurting others that are perceived as a threat, and feeds on negative energy that people bring them with their requests for help. Isk sees this, too, as a transaction - if energy should be expended on writing their clients things that they require, then it is only fair that their client should replenish their energy with some of their own. Isk sees monetary gain as only necessary for survival, and thrives more on the sustenance that recalled memories, emotions, and thoughts provide them. Some have called Isk a 'psychic vampire'. They have the tendency to proposition potential clients as they view sexual exchange as more straightforward than the exchange of thoughts for words. Appearance Due to numerous scars on their legs and lower back, Isk always keeps their lower body covered. However, as Isk was taught for a long time to present themselves as alluring, Isk usually wears elaborate accoutrements and garments to accentuate their long throat, a feature much prized among Alcestian slavers. Isk 7 is of indeterminate age and gender, but seems to be in their early-to-late twenties, and prefers the pronouns 'they/them'. Isk's eyes are always heavily lined with consecrated ashes, and claims their wrists are the centres of their power.